Dental floss holder

ABSTRACT

A dental floss holder comprising a pair of arms connected at corresponding ends and separated at the opposite free ends, a separable fitted cap for each free end, the dental floss being firmly held between each end and its cap, and a supply reel of floss located in a handle at the connected ends of the arms.

United States Patent [191 Sheehan [4 Nov. 19, 1974 DENTAL FLOSS HOLDER [76] Inventor: John F. Sheehan, 318 Charles St.,

Fitchburg, Mass. 01420 [22] Filed: May 31, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 365,472

[52] US. Cl 132/92 R [51] Int. Cl. A61C 15/00 [58] Field of Search 132/92 A, 92 R, 93, 91;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,184,052 5/1916 Turner et a1. 132/92 R 1,368,555 2/1921 Henerlau 132/92 R 2,451,181 10/1948 Swartzman... 132/92 R 3,696,821 10/1972 Adams, 132/91 Primary Examiner--Robert Peshock Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Charle.s R. Fay

[57] ABSTRACT A dental floss holder comprising a pair of arms connected at corresponding ends and separated at the opposite free ends, a separable fitted cap for each free end, the dental floss being firmly held between each end and its cap, and a supply reel of floss located in a handle at the connected ends of the arms.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEL "av 1 91914 FIG. 3

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FIG. 2

DENTAL FLOSS HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many attempts have been made to provide a dental floss holder for quick and easy use. Most of the prior art utilize V-notches to frictionally hold the floss, which slips under hard use; or the floss must be awkwardly tied, which take time and must be done for each use. In some cases the floss is wrapped several times about the two arms of a Y-shaped device but this results in slipping also, as well as being almost as much trouble as tying. This invention provides a dental floss holder that is easy to apply the floss to, holding the floss by means that does not slip.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A pair of spaced arms are connected to a base which is a handle and a cache for a reel of floss. Each arm terminates in a tapering free end. There is a hollow cap for each free end, the caps each conforming to its free end and having a hole in its top.

The floss is applied to the caps by stringing them on the floss, and then the caps are applied to the free ends of the arms and pusheddown on them. This provides a positive clamp on the floss holding it taut between the caps. The more force is used to push the caps down on the ends, the greater the clamping pressure.

The entire holder is preferably molded of plastic as are the caps, and very little pressure is actually needed to positively clamp the floss in this way. Also the arms are slightly springy and can be pressed somewhat toward each other while applying the floss for increased tautness of the floss.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of the new dental floss holder with parts in section;

FIG. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detail view partly in section of a slight modification; and

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating how to apply the floss to the holder.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The dental floss holder of the present invention comprises a handle which is preferably hollow and adapted to form a housing or cache for a supply of dental floss, in this case shown as e.g., a reel 12. This reel can be loose in the handle cache and threads out through an opening 14 which may be undercut as at 16 for a sliding door 18. This door may be moved to pinch the floss 20.

The device has a pair of arms 22 and 24 preferably hollow that are almost parallel but preferably diverge at their free ends as at 26 leaving a space between them to provide the working area of the floss as at 28.

The free end portions of the arms taper down towards the extreme ends thereof and slidingly frictionally receive hollow caps 30, 32 which have interior surfaces fitted to the exterior surfaces of the free end portions of the arms. In FIG. 1, these surfaces are correspondingly curved in a lengthwise direction but they may also be straight i.e., conical as in FIG. 3, see cap 32 and arm 24'.

By reason of the close fit of the caps to the arm free end portions, a very tight clamping effect is placed on the floss in the caps and this effect is strong enough so that the floss does not slip even under heavy use. Also, the more force is used to jam the caps on, the greater the clamping action. In practice, only a slight force is necessary to tightly clamp the floss. A floss catch and cutter 34 is placed on arm 24, the floss proceeding along arm 22 from the supply.

To first load the holder, the leading end of the floss is threaded through the wide end of cap 30 and out through the narrow end, and into the narrow end of the other cap 32. The caps are then merely set onto the respective arms with tautness at 28 as desired, and the caps are pushed in on the ends 26. A short end of floss should extend out the wide end of cap 32. This end may dangle or it can be pinched under the floss catch and cutter 34.

A new section of floss is obtained merely by loosening the caps and pulling on the extending end of the floss at 36, and the extreme end of the floss may then be cut off.

Short lengths of floss may also be inidividually clamped if the supply 12 is not wanted.

I claim:

1. A dental floss holder comprising a pair of elongated tapering self-sustaining arms connected together at corresponding ends and separated at the opposite ends, the latter being free-ended,

an elongated interiorly tapering hollow cap for each free end portion of each arm, the caps conforming interiorly to the exterior of the respective arm free end portions and closely fitting extending beyond the same, the caps being open at both ends, and being slidably associated with the free end portions of the arms and being selectively removable therefrom,

dental floss applied to each free end portion of each arm and extending under its cap out of the narrower one of the open ends of the cap directly to the corresponding end of the other cap, the floss being clamped between the caps and their arm ends for the entire lengths of the caps, the floss being held taut thereby and by the self-sustaining arms, the caps and the free end portions of the arms being in frictional contact along the entire lengths of the caps,

and a floss supply recess, a door therefor, said door being positioned to pinch the floss and apply tension thereto, controlling the feed of the floss from the supply recess.

2. The dental floss holder of claim 1 wherein the caps and arms are correspondingly curved from end to end.

3. The dental floss holder of claim 1 where the caps and arms are correspondingly conical. 

1. A dental floss holder comprising a pair of elongated tapering self-sustaining arms connected together at corresponding ends and separated at the opposite ends, the latter being free-ended, an elongated interiorly tapering hollow cap for each free end portion of each arm, the caps conforming interiorly to the exterior of the respective arm free end portions and closely fitting extending beyond the same, the caps being open at both ends, and being slidably associated with the free end portions of the arms and being selectively removable therefrom, dental floss applied to each free end portion of each arm and extending under its cap out of the narrower one of the open ends of the cap directly to the corresponding end of the other cap, the floss being clamped between the caps and their arm ends for the entire lengths of the caps, the floss being held taut thereby and by the self-sustaining arms, the caps and the free end portions of the arms being in frictional contact along the entire lengths of the caps, and a floss supply recess, a door therefor, said door being positioned to pinch the floss and apply tension thereto, controlling the feed of the floss from the supply recess.
 2. The dental floss holder of claim 1 wherein the caps and arms are correspondingly curved from end to end.
 3. The dental floss holder of claim 1 where the caps and arms are correspondingly conical. 